Once again I've teased you with instagram pictures but no posts! What can I say? Vacation and vacation catch-up. Two delightful chunks of time, one always following the other in a highly necessary way.

One delightful thing that's happened - one of the most recent things even - is that we've had family pictures taken by Julianna of Red Rubber Studio. Tuesday night we headed to St. Thomas and smiled away despite sweltering heat. She did an awesome job - I love 'em! - and you can have a peek if you like. Check them out at their blog here.

One glance? Ok...

Thanks Julianna, for capturing our family. I can't wait to get them in frames! It's a good thing my very own Target is now open...

Woodsy Wedding

Okay, so this might be a strange post to "reappear" with - but I was browsing a photographer's blog I love, This Moment Forever, and I saw this wedding.

Wow. I love each and every woodsy detail! Pinecone bouquets, the color of those bridesmaid dresses, giving away wee little trees at the reception. Beautiful.

And since beautiful details make me smile, I thought maybe it'd make you smile too.

Family

"Being part of a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what."

This is the quote (anonymous? can't find source) I chose for a print for my parents. During the fall my family took the opportunity of being together on a beautiful day, to snap some loooong overdue pictures. The last family shot was from way back, when I worked at Sears Portrait Studio. Hadassah sees that picture and asks me which of her cousins are which, since they're so little. Maddy isn't even around yet! Nor Tim.

Due for pictures? Uh...yeah.

Care to take a little peek at the shots? Mostly done with a self-timer, and fiddled with in photoshop afterward, here is my family:

I am so blessed to be living in the same city as my parents again. It's great to see them so much more than I used to! Plus, Hadassah sure loves her sleepovers.

As for the rest of the group, I was blessed with an older sister, Tracy, who married William and they had four pretty decent kids. (ha! kidding - you're wonderful). My sister is 12 years older than me and it's always kinda fun telling people that. "Really?! Wow, that's a lot of years!!" It is. Here's the story as per how I remember it. My parents tried for 11 years to have another baby, decided it must not be in God's plan, gave away all their baby things and then discovered that, whatdoyaknow, they were expecting. I remind them once in awhile that it was a pleasant surprise. ;)

And that's the story of how my sister got a real live doll.

So anyway...we first took advantage of some fall color and then headed downtown under the Fourth St. bridge where I took a liking to the painted-over-graffiti walls, green "roof" and pigeons.

 

There you have it. Us.

It is a blessing to love. And be loved. Thank you, Lord, for family.

Lighting, Camera, Actions!!

I suppose technically I started with the camera. But then the title wouldn't flow quite the same now would it?

The day before her first haircut ever, Hadassah and I took advantage of the lovely soft light in her bedroom and took her "official" 3 year pictures. There's one in particular of her and Gus that I like immensely, especially after some Pioneer Woman's Actions action.

What's that you say? You'd like me to share them with you?

How sweet of you to ask - I believe I will.

Here's the pictures, SOC. (straight out of camera)

I think it's the eyes. Hadassah's big blue ones and Gus' big ol' "please love me" brown Spaniel ones. First I did a little crop, and then I added a little sharpening and a little boost resulting in this:

And then I played around with all of the actions until I found "the one". And for this picture, PW's Vintage action was definitely the one! I did lower the transparency of the action so some of the color still peeked through and j'adore how it turned out. If I could hug a picture...

...I would.

Back behind the camera

It's been awhile.

But how could I say no? Two adorable kids, a friend-since-high-school and her hubby (who happens to go back to elementary school) and a beautiful fall day. When Anne asked if I could take some family pictures, of course the answer was "yes indeedy".

And so here's a little sneak peak for you, Anne. Hope you enjoy. (I'm avoiding a family pic, since I sure don't want to spoil the surprise of a Christmas card shot ;)

Oh, and I'm tossing one in of Hadassah too, since she insisted on having her picture taken that afternoon as well. And cause she's so stinkin' cute. And cause she's Danielle's friend. Only makes sense to have one of her too, right? Ok, maybe not. But she's in. All there is to it folks.

A little bit of vintage

"What should I put on this wall?" was a question posed to me by my sister last week or so. She's been working on their master bedroom and every time I'm there, I take a peek to see what's happening decor-wise. My answer? Your kids! So she picked up some fabulous frames and my job was to fill them. Add a little Pioneer Woman "vintage" action and this is what I ended up with:

Don't I have me some beautiful nieces and a handsome nephew?

*click*

Here's hoping that not too many people on Becky's christmas card list read this blog!! Because I wanted to show all of you this great looking family!

Andrew & Cherise

Did I mention that Andrew (Tim's brother) and Cherise (a friend of mine here in GR) recently got engaged? Well then, did I mention that they asked me to take their engagement pics?

Crazy people.

But because she begged, I did. (ok, she didn't beg...I did them willingly...but I still think they're crazy!!) And they're done. Prettified. Sent. And now...posted. Go check all of them out at Cherise's blog, but for fun, here's a sneak peak:

Sidenote: Is it really so late in the afternoon already? Where DID this day go? I've hardly crossed anything off of my to-do list! Oh well.

Blog. Check.

In need of a photographer?

Well good! Because I've got a great one for you. Derek (aka Dirk) Naves. Remember our Christmas card from last year?


Photographer: Derek.
I recently had the privilage of designing a business card for him:


Fabulous, fantastic, modern stuff. Hire him.
For more examples of his work, head over here.

I snapped. I fiddled. I love.